thinkbroadband

Vodafone out of plan data costs to double
Tuesday 20 September 2011 13:24:41 by
Andrew Ferguson

It is not just the gas and electricity firms with large price rises, it
seems the mobile phone networks are in on the game too. Vodafone has published
on its website changes to its price plans
for pay monthly users. Currently most Vodafone mobile phone plans include
500 to 750MB (MegaBytes) of data allowance, and are charged £5 for every 500MB
they use above this. This is set to change to £5 for every 250MB.

For those who only just go over their allowance, e.g. use an extra 50MB in
the month they will see no change, but users who exceed their allowance by over
250MB will see a big change in their costs. For example a user using an extra
600MB will pay £15 as oppossed to £10. Someone using 300MB would see the cost
rise to £10 from £5.

Generally most of the content people use on smart phones is relatively small
in terms of datasize, e.g. twitter and Facebook, but if the phone has an app
store it would be wise to turn off automatic updates on purchases, since
updates to apps can be large and are best carried out over Wi-Fi to avoid
excess data charging.

The pricing for tablet data usage appears to be different. With Vodafone,
data plans for the iPad2 and Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1 include 2GB (GigaBytes) of
UK data, with extra costing £15 per GB. For lighter users, there is an option
of 500MB of inclusive data and £7.50 for every 500MB above that.

Comments

Posted by
vm1990 over 5 years ago
all these extra data charges are getting pathetic. how the heck do they get away with charging so much there all as bad as each other ,orange,vodafone,o2 they all rip you off and yet a network like 3 give you unlimited data for 15 quid a month the other network musst be laughing at how much they make from the extra charges.

Posted by
thomaswarne over 5 years ago
Hi there, i originally had an iphone 3gs 8gb on vodafone @ £35.00 a month, crap coverage and horrible data expenses, moved on to tmobile and never looked back! (iphone 4 now!) never again vodafone, oh and i now have unlimited internet on my phone!

Posted by
imbsuk over 5 years ago
Never mind data costs! I thought I'd be a proper adult and move to a contract phone. The call costs on every provider I looked at when your minutes are used was like 35p per minute! A 20 minute phone call to a landline would cost you £7! These providers are in a fantasy land. Or they correctly deduce that people will be too dumb/lazy to do some research.

Posted by
zyborg47 over 5 years ago
We could see this coming, thankfully I don't go over my limits.

Mobile phone networks are know different to energy suppliers, I think they are all in cahoots with each other. Lets see what network does the same thing next.

Posted by
mervl over 5 years ago
It's the inevitable regulation game. As regulators (EU in this case) clamp down on some costs (roaming) the operators are going to recoup lost income elsewhere. Modern western business is a game and you have to try to keep abreast of the increasingly complex rules. Smoke and mirrors or swings and roundabouts, depending on your point of view.

Posted by
otester over 5 years ago
While Three is making their plans unlimited (All You Can Eat) while maintaining a decent speed, Vodafone goes and does this...

They haven't expanded their EDGE network or taken up 3G900. I won't be getting another contract with them!

Posted by
otester over 5 years ago
500MB*

Posted by
chrysalis over 5 years ago
yeah they going backwards. It seems to be a reaction to increased stress on capacity and a unwillingness to invest. I also use 3 for my mobile internet needs, when I did research a while back they were miles ahead of all the competition.

Posted by
otester over 5 years ago
@chrysalis

In a rural village, dongle hung over my curtain rail to get 3 out of 5 bars, great for a back up when DSL goes down (like right now).